Thread: Question about monthly billing

I've read through what you all do. I'm in agreement about dropping late payers and losing presence in the neighborhood.

Here's what is currently working for us:

Previous to this year, FOR MOWING: I'd been billing at the end of the month with invoices marked "due on receipt". 50% paid within 15 days other 50% before next billing. FOR LABOR ONLY WORK: Invoice presented or mailed immediately upon completion of work. FOR LABOR & MATERIALS work: ALL MATERIALS COSTS MUST BE PAID IN ADVANCE - period NO exceptions!!! Labor and any incidentals billed upon completion of work.

This year, the ONLY change is to billing MOWING. To see if it would "improve cash flow" I decided to send out a mowing bills every 4 weeks AND added Intuit's Quick-books Online Payment. Doing this gives a "rolling" effect. WOWZER! An immediate difference, in that there were several customers who were good payers, decided to simple click the link in their emailed invoice and VOILA! Money in MY bank immediately!

Located in coastal Rhode Island, we are a small (so far ;-D) biz 40+ weekly lawns, landscape and hardscape services and snowplowing. Mowing season runs from late April through early November.

most of the ones i dropped were not helping my pressence in the neighborhoods anyway. Bi-weekly mowed lawns, they wouldn't want shrub trimming so of course those would be overgrown all the time.. no lawn treatments, so weeds everywhere. The every other week mowing customers have been the worst to deal with this year for alot of reasons. Thats mostly the ones that got dropped, there is nothing like cutting a lawn full of crabgrass every other week, especially when it was raining everyday.. Then you know they call up and wonder if i could cut it "as short as possible next time..." I just can't handle these types of lawns, and i usually pass on them at this point. those have been the worst about paying.

My fert/weed control invoices are all due upon receipt, and a late fee after 30 days, so i guess thats like giving them 30 days anyways.. most pay within 30 days and i'm fine with that, usually the ones that routinely go 60 to 90 days i will require them to pre-pay if they want to continue. I definetly gotta change how i bill mowing, and probably gotta learn to be more patient. I still am pretty mad at a few right now who still owe me for 3 or 4 cuts and its been months... and they are avoiding me. You better believe when i get my money from them, they won't be seeing me around anymore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CherylMD

I've read through what you all do. I'm in agreement about dropping late payers and losing presence in the neighborhood.

Here's what is currently working for us:

Previous to this year, FOR MOWING: I'd been billing at the end of the month with invoices marked "due on receipt". 50% paid within 15 days other 50% before next billing. FOR LABOR ONLY WORK: Invoice presented or mailed immediately upon completion of work. FOR LABOR & MATERIALS work: ALL MATERIALS COSTS MUST BE PAID IN ADVANCE - period NO exceptions!!! Labor and any incidentals billed upon completion of work.

This year, the ONLY change is to billing MOWING. To see if it would "improve cash flow" I decided to send out a mowing bills every 4 weeks AND added Intuit's Quick-books Online Payment. Doing this gives a "rolling" effect. WOWZER! An immediate difference, in that there were several customers who were good payers, decided to simple click the link in their emailed invoice and VOILA! Money in MY bank immediately!

Located in coastal Rhode Island, we are a small (so far ;-D) biz 40+ weekly lawns, landscape and hardscape services and snowplowing. Mowing season runs from late April through early November.

After adopting this system, it was a life changer. I bill between the 10th and the 20th, usually right on the 15th. All payments are due on the 30th. If I don't receive payment by the 5th, they are charged a late fee of $5 or 5% whichever is greater. I love this. I still have my late payers but now I get paid even more for it. I make hundreds of dollars each year in late fees. I receive payments to a p o box. The p o box is next door to my bank. I stop once a week sometimes twice.

still, my biggest worry is adding in the shrub trimming to the monthly price, then what if they cancel somwhere in the middle and I can possibly loose on the shrub trimming i did. I figure it'd have to be a contract for the year with some kind of penalty for cancelling early. I got all winter to figure it out i guess. lol.

"Shrub trimming" would be separately invoiced and handed to them or mailed on the day it's done. We only have a few peeps who want it [and they've been talked into the service ;-) ] It's always explained in advance how our billing is going to work. NO complaints yet. We're a "summer" community and nearly all of the biz is from people have their "second home" tended to. Shrub trimming is usually 3 times per year.